Reality check: the possible detection of simulated environments through observation of selected physical phenomena
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: And yet, and yet… Denying temporal succession, denying the self, denying the astronomical universe, are apparent desperations and secret consolations.Our destiny… is not frightful by being unreal; it is frightful because it is irreversible and iron-clad… The world, unfortunately, is real; I, unfortunately, am Borges."-Jorge Luis Borges, "A New Refutation of Time" Reality, Virtual Reality, and the Formulation of the Question 1This paper attempts to address some specific questions concerning virtual reality or simulated environments of the type discussed in Hilary Putnam's "Brain in a Vat" scenario and depicted in the popular film "The Matrix." 2 It does not delve into some of the more complex questions of the nature of knowledge and the role of mind in definitions of "reality"those topics have been explored at length elsewhere in the philosophical literature.Rather, this paper addresses in simple terms two basic problems.The first: Is there a test we could devise to see if we are living in a simulation of the sort depicted in Putnam's "Brain in Vat" or "The Matrix"?The second problem, a more difficult one in some respects, is this: What exactly is the difference between that kind of simulation and what we currently believe to be our physical reality?
Author: BB Olshin
Institution: University of the Arts
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4232796616